Previews: Ubuntu 12.10

In more Quantal development news, Unity in Ubuntu 12.10 would have a new feature called ‘Previews’.

Previews will give users an extra option with results in the Dash – right-click to open a preview pane. In previous versions of Unity, users only had one option with results in the Dash which is to open the file.

With this new feature, users can previews files right in the Dash. For example, if the user right-clicks on a music file in the Dash, the Music Preview will be revealed – which displays the album art, player controls and an option to show the file in a folder. The music preview also works for Ubuntu One Music Store results – so that you can preview a song before downloading it.

Previews also works with applications – allowing users to preview their applications, showing screenshot, description, user rating, as well as buttons for uninstalling or launching the application.

Lens developers also have new APIs and design layouts to play with. The APIs will allow developers to develop lenses that wouldn’t require a browser anymore. For example, the Wikipedia and News lens wouldn’t require the use of the browser and users could just read it on the Lens itself. Even the Torrent Lens would just allow the user to download it directly.

Previews is certainly a great step forward, and a feature that users will be anticipating in Ubuntu 12.10.